1. Tenses/Tense errors
• There are three different times in English:
• The past,
• The present
• The future
• Each of these has four aspects; simple,
continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous
2. Present simple
• Form
Affirmative - subject+ base form (+s/es)
Negative – subject+ aux verb ‘be’+ not + base
form
Question – aux. verb ‘do’ + subject + base form
3. Usage
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Habitual actions
He goes fishing every week.
Permanent situations and facts
The sun sets in the west.
Commentaries
Beckham passes to Fowler who shoots and scores.
Directions and instructions
First you go left, then you go straight on.
Newspaper headlines
Stock market falls to all time low.
Present stories
So I open the door and what do I see but a policeman in a blue
uniform.
4. Typical mistakes
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She walk to school everyday.
He no like to watch T.V.
Where lives your father?
She go often to Paris.
She doesn’t likes football.
I’m go to the post office tomorrow.
5. Ideas to Practice Simple Present
• Interview people to know more about them
• Questionnaires where you ask each other
questions about your habitual actions.
• By looking at visual prompts, construct the
daily life of someone.
• Looking at diagrams and maps and then giving
directions.
6. Present Continuous
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Form
Affirmative – sub.+aux. verb ‘be’+verb+ing
I am learning.
Negative – sub.+ aux. verb ‘be’+not+verb+ing
I am not learning.
Question – aux. verb ‘be’+ sub.+verb+ing
Am I learning?
7. Usage
• To talk about an action in progress while
speaking.
• Please be quiet. I’m watching T.V.
• Talk about temporary action not necessarily in
progress at the time of speaking
• I am reading a good book at the moment.
• Emphasize a recent action
• She is always biting her nails.
• Regular action around a point of time
8. Contd.•
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Regular action around a point of time
He’s is usually working at this time.
Background event in present story
So I’m standing there when a policeman
comes in.
• Describe developing situation
• It’s getting dark.
9. Non-action verbs
• Non-action verbs are not normally not used in
continuous forms, we use the simple present
for them. For example:
• Hate, love, understand, believe, hear, seem,
appear, wish, mean, remember, own, owe,
want, like
10. Categories of non-action verbs
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Verbs of senses
Expressing feelings and emotions
Verbs of mental activity
Verbs of possession
But some verbs have different meanings
depending upon whether they are used in
simple or continuous, for example:
• She thinks you are right. (opinion)
• She is thinking about it. (considering)
12. How to practice Present
Continuous
• Describing changes in a graph or chart or
table.
• Narrating stories using simple present and
continuous based on visual prompts
• Mime games
13. Present Perfect
• It relates the past to the present
• Form
• I/you/we/they have or he/she/it has, + past
participle (with regular verbs the past
participle is verb plus ed – worked. But in
irregular verbs, the form changes, like writewritten)
14. Form
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Affirmative
Subject + aux. verb ‘have’+ past participle
I have written.
Negative
Subject + aux. verb ‘have’ + not + past
participle
I haven’t written
Questions
Aux. verb ‘have’ + subject + past participle
Have I written?
15. Usages
• Talking about finished actions/states at
indefinite time, a general experience without
specific detail
• I have eaten food.
• Thinking about completed past actions carried
out in an unfinished time period at the time of
speaking.
• It has rained a lot today. (the rain has stopped
but it is still today)
• I have eaten eight sandwiches this afternoon.
16. Contd.• Talking about something which began in the
past but is still true now, at the time of
speaking. We don’t know it will continue or
not
• We have lived in Paris for five years.
• She has been a vegetarian since 1988.
• Describing past actions with present results
• I have left my purse at home.
• Can you help me? I’ve lost one of my contact
lenses.
17. ‘Since’ or ‘for’ with present perfect
• We use ‘for’ with periods of time.(e.g. a week,
6 moths)
• We use ‘since’ with points of time. (e.g.
Monday, 1984) means ‘from’
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Examples:
We’ve lived here for five years.
I haven’t slept for 48 hours.
She has been a doctor since September.
18. Gone or Been
• He’s been to Turkey.
• He’s gone to Turkey.
• The first sentence shows that the trip is
finished.
• The second sentence means he is still on the
trip.
19. Ideas to practice present perfect
• Finding people who have done something
• What have you done today
• Mentioning the changes – for e.g. the setting
of a room
• Job interview- answering questions what you
have done
20. Present Perfect Continuous
• Relates past activities to present, meaning
that either
• the activity is likely to continue in the future,
or
• Activity was in progress for some length of
time
• Or both
21. Form
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Affirmative
Subject + aux. verb ‘have’ + been + verb + ing
I have been dancing.
Negative
Subject + aux. verb ‘have’ + not + been + verb
+ ing
I haven’t been dancing.
Questions
Aux. verb ‘have’ + subject + been + verb + ing
Have I been dancing?
22. Usages
• Communicate an incomplete and ongoing
activity, when we want to say how long it has
continued
• I’ve been singing for the last 20 years.
• Describing a recently finished, uninterrupted
activity having a present result
• I’m tired because I’ve been working all day.
23. Typical Error
• Using verbs that don’t take the continuous
forms, for example:
• Like, perfect, believe
• I’ve been knowing her for three months.
24. Comparing Present perfect with
Present Perfect Cont.
• With present perfect continuous, the
emphasis is on the action/activity NOT the
result or completed action
• What have you been doing today?
• I’ve been cleaning the car.
• For number of things that we have done or
completed, we use present perfect
• I’ve written six letters since breakfast.
• I’ve been writing letters since breakfast.
25. How to practice present perfect
continuous
• Write a past activity and its result
• You have been chopping onions. You are
crying.
• You have been running. You are sweating.
• You tell the result and the other person
guesses the activity
• Student A: I’m crying
• Student B: Have you been watching a sad
26. Past tense: Past Simple
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Form
Affirmative (add –ed or –d to the verb)
I worked
Negative ( add did not or didn’t before the
verb)
• I didn’t work
• Question (add did + subject before verb)
• Did you work?
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Usage of Past Simple
Actions completed at a definite time in the past:
Past actions when time is given
I met him yesterday, he died in 1990
When time is asked about
When did you meet him?
When action took place at a definite time even
though time is not mentioned
• How did you get your present job?
• Sometimes time becomes definite as a result of a
question and answer in present perfect
• Where have you been?- I have been to the movie- Did
you enjoy it?
28. How to practice the tense
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Writing your CV
Interview role-play
Discussing past holidays/major events, etc.
Narrating story along with past continuous
and past perfect
29. Past Continuous
• Past tense of the auxiliary verb be (was/were)
+ the present participle (verb + ing)
• Affirmative – subject + was/were + verb + ing
• He was working.
• Negative – subject + was/were + not + verb +
ing
• He was not working.
• Question – was/were + subject + verb + ing
• Was he working?
30. Usage
• For interrupted past actions
• While I was having a bath, the phone rang.
• Used without a time expression, indicating gradual
development that took place in the past
• It was getting darker.
• Ca express an action, which began before that time
and probably continued after it.
• At 8 he was having breakfast.
• In description
• When I woke up, the sun was shining and the birds
were singing.
31. Remember
• The past continuous almost always requires
some form of time reference. For e.g., I was
playing tennis simply doesn’t make any sense
because we don’t know when.
• Typical mistakes:
• Omission of the verb ‘to be’
• Omission of the -ing
• Use of –ing with state verbs
• Confusion with past simple
32. Ideas to practice Past Continuous
• Detective games:
• where were you yesterday at 7:00 p.m.? What
were you doing?
• Use of diaries/journals:
• what were you doing at 7:00 p.m. on Monday?
• Telling stories:Narrating and describing a story
using simple past and past continuous
• He was going at night when he saw a
snake……
33. Past Perfect
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Form
Affirmative – subject + had + past participle
Negative – subject + had not + past participle
Question – had + subject + past participle
• Usage
• It is the past in past or the past viewed from
another past viewpoint
34. Look at the following sentences
• When I got to the car park I realized that I had
lost my key.
• She told me she had worked in France and
Germany.
• He arrived late; he hadn’t realized the roads
would be so crowded.
• In these examples, past perfect verbs
represent actions that occurred before other
actions in the past.
35. Completely Finished Actions
• Try completing these sentences with a word
to show that the past perfect action is 100%
complete
• ………………….he had painted the kitchen, he
decided to rest.
• ……………………….she had finished the report,
she realized that it was too late to post it.
36. Ideas to practice Past perfect
• Story telling or writing in conjunction with
other past tenses
• Look at a situation and think of reasons why
the situation had happened
• See a story and retell the story backwards,
starting from the end and describing what had
happened before.
37. Past Perfect Continuous
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Form
Affirmative – subject + had been + verb+ ing
Negative – subject + had not + been + verb +ing
Question – had + subject + been + verb + ing
Usage
Most commonly used, but one important use
To talk about longer actions in the past that had
been going on continuously up to the past moment
that we are thinking about.
• Before eating lunch, she had been doing her
homework for two hours.
38. Future Tense
• Present simple – the train leave platform in five
minutes
• Present cont. – I’m meeting her for coffee tomorrow
• Be going + infinitive – it’s going to rain
• Future simple – I’ll pick you up later
• Future cont.- I’ll be getting on the train at 10.00
• Future perf.- I’ll have finished my exams by Monday
• Future perf. Cont.-he’ll have been driving for two
hours before he reaches Delhi
39. Present Simple
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Usage:
To suggest a more formal situation
Our new shop opens next month
For timetables and schedules
The train to Delhi leaves at 10.30 a.m
Suggesting a more impersonal tone (implying
an outside compulsion)
• We start filming tomorrow
• They leave tomorrow for London
40. Practice ideas
• Writing press releases about your company’s
future plans
• Discussing weekly timetables
• Compiling or sharing information from airport
or railways
41. Present Continuous
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For definite arrangements
We are taking our holiday in July.
For decisions and plans without a time frame
I’m leaving the company.
Practice ideas
Diaries/schedules- writing about future
schedules
• Role-plays- like trying to fix appointment as a
client to see a busy boss
42. Be going + Infinitive
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Intentions
I’m not going to do it.
Predictions based on present evidence
I think it is going to rain later!
Plans (decisions made before speaking)
I’m going to visit my family in April.
Practice ideas
Making b’day/holiday plans
Plan what you are going to do when you grow up
Make predictions based on evidence, like weather forecast
Songs, for e.g., “Mannish Boy” by Muddy Waters.
43. Future Simple
Form
• Affirmative – I/we shall/will + verb
• Negative – I will not + verb
• Question – Will I + verb
Usage
Will/shall
• Will is used for information and predictions
• Shall is used in making suggestions, invitations
• Will expresses stronger intention, force,
determination
44. Will/shall
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Future facts and certainties
Spring will start in March as usual.
Promises
I’ll call you up today.
Predictions based on no present evidence, as opposed to
‘going to’
It’ll rain before morning.
Assumptions/speculations
They’ll have to sell the house, I expect.
Threats
You’d better go or I will throw you out.
Spontaneous decisions
I’ll get my coat.
45. Practice ideas
• Fortune telling/palm reading
• Going on a holiday/lost in a desert- what will
you take?
• Winning a lottery-what will you do?
• Songs:
• “when I am 64” by Beatles
• “That’ll be the day” Buddy Holly
• Predicting what others will be like in X year
• Predicting future changes
46. Future continuous
• To say that something will be in progress at a
particular moment in the future
• This time tomorrow I’ll be boarding a train.
• To ‘predict the present’ to say what we think or
guess might be happening now
• John will probably be having lunch now.
• For polite enquiries referring to other people’s plans,
but not to influence the listener’s intentions
• Will you be coming to the party?
• Referring to future events which are fixed/decided
• Professor Smith will be giving another lecture at the
same time next week.
47. Practice Ideas
• Form
• Subject + will + be + verb + ing
• Arranging diaries/dates “what will you be
doing at 2.00pm on Tuesday?”
• Illustrative Situations
• “3 police cars are speeding through the night.
……………………………………..
48. Future Perfect
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Form
Will + have + past participle
Affirmative – I will have worked here
Negative – she will not have worked here
Questions – will she have worked here?
Usage
The future perfect tense is used to say that
something will have been done, completed or
achieved by a certain time in future.
• The car will soon have done 100,000 miles.
49. • Future perfect refers to completion of action
by a certain time in future and
• Continuous refers to by what time or how
long something would have continued for by a
certain time
50. • Future perfect is “past in future”. We look
back on the past (a completed action) from
future standpoint.
• By the end of the summer I will have
completed this course.
• When they arrive, I will have finished dinner
51. Practice ideas
• Filling future diaries, elicit questions in the future
perfect
• “what will you have done by…………………..
• Choose a famous historical person and note down
imp. dates in his/her life
• “by 1796 he will have completed his education.”
• A novelist writes a 300 page books. He/she writes 10
pages a day and takes no holidays. Use future perfect
to answer the questions:
• How many pages will she have written after ten day?
52. Future perfect continuous
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Form
Will + have + been + verb + ing
Usage
To say how long something will have
continued by a certain time
• By the time you get here, I’ll have been
working for six years
• Practice ideas
• How long will you have been learning
English/working/etc. by next summer?
